Serbia deny racism

17 October 2012 02:17

The Serbian FA have denied there were any racist chants before and during the England Under-21 match in Krusevac and said Danny Rose behaved in an 'inappropriate, unsportsmanlike and vulgar manner' towards their fans.

Rose had earlier called for Serbia to be banned after complaining of racial abuse and being hit by missiles during his side's 1-0 win on Tuesday. The England defender said he had been subjected to monkey taunts long before the violent and chaotic scenes which marred the end of the Euro 2013 play-off.

In a statement on its website, the Serbian FA said: "(The) FA of Serbia absolutely refuses (sic) and denies that there were any occurrences of racism before and during the match at the stadium in Krusevac."

The statement continued: "Making connection between the seen incident - a fight between members of the two teams - and racism has absolutely no ground and we consider it to be a total malevolence.

"Unfortunately, after the fourth minute of the additional time and the victory goal scored by the guest team, unpleasant scenes were seen on the pitch.

"And while most of the English team players celebrated the score, their player number three, Danny Rose, behaved in inappropriate, unsportsmanlike and vulgar manner towards the supporters on the stands at the stadium in Krusevac, and for that he was shown a red card."